Here you can follow our sailing from Sweden to the Mediterranian.We have a new yacht s/y Carpe Diem, Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40. Of practical reasons we are still using the homepage of our previous yacht s/y Xavita.

Klicka på bilderna föratt se dem i större format. NOTE! Click on the photos to have a larger image.

Here comes a number of travel letters that have been ready for publicing, but it has been very difficult to get access to internet along the small villages we have passed lately. Currently at Mcdonalds in Reims. All McDomnalds worldwide offer WiFi free of charge.

Thursday 21 October Chesne – Attigny
Trip: 9 nm Total: 828 nm 27 locks
Thick morning mist and a thin layer of ice covers the deck. Stuck in the mud but free after some pushing. Now we are descending in the automatic locks, which is much easier than ascending. You enter a filled lock chamber, put your lines around the bollards, easing the lines when the water level lowers 2-3m. No pulling of lines is needed. The locks are situated at 100 m interval. We are passing the locks together with a French motor yacht, which is returning from holidays in Sweden and Norway. We make only 9 nautical miles (= 17 km), it’s still a full day’s work.

Wednesday 20 October Charleville – Chesne
Trip: 25 nm Total: 819 nm 10 locks 1 tunnel
Rain the second consecutive day! Where is the warm and nice weather? A Barge came in one of the narrowest passages. We kept aside as much as possible and got stuck in the mud. To avoid being caught by the propwash of the barge, we have to apply more speed when half of the barge has passed. These small barges fit exactly into the 5 m wide lock chambers. After some hours we steered into Canal des Ardennes, as the Meuse is closed for repairs further upstream. This narrow canal passes agriculture areas, totally unlike Meuse and its high mountains.

Meuse is meandering between high mountains, sometimes making almost a full circle. The steep hill slopes are covered with trees that are going yellow. Before coming to Charleville we passed 11 locks today, all automatic and a 250 m long tunnel. The procedure in the automatic locks is as follows: 100 m before the lock you aim your remote control at a receiver on the bank. The lights at the lock turn from red to red-green and the lock is prepared, gates are opened and the light turns to green. You enter the lock and moor and then pull a blue rod that hangs down in the lock chamber. That makes the gates to close, paddles to open and the chamber is filled. When the water has reached the right level, normally 2-4 m rise, the upper gates are opened, all automatic. Finally you just go out. Mostly the procedure goes as planned, but every now and then the automatic jams and staff has to be called.